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CEO Corner 6/26/15

June 27 marks the 120th anniversary of Adena’s founding. While our founders were looking for a place to take-in and care for emergent cases, today, we at Adena work to meet as many of the health needs those living in our communities may have. Nearby access to state-of-the-art, quality healthcare is something that most of us now take for granted.

Over the past 120 years, Adena has grown from a four-employee hospital within a house on Bridge Street, to a nearly 2,800-employee, three-hospital health system, that serves more than a half-million people living in 12 counties. As the needs of our communities and our region have changed and grown, Adena has also had to change and grow to meet those needs.

As we move onto the next 120 years, Adena’s mission will continue to evolve. We will continue to offer our patients close-to-home access to the most up-to-date, high quality care by some of the nation’s best caregivers. We will also continue to adapt to industry changes, while working to always meet the expectations and needs of our patients.

In today’s healthcare environment, focus on care goes beyond the four walls of a hospital or physician’s office. We are beginning to work harder to also meet the global health needs of our communities as a whole; as opposed to only seeing patients when they are sick or in distress. Doing this will involve changing attitudes and helping people within our communities adapt their lifestyles to achieve better overall health.

Providing care for 120 years, Adena is part of the fabric of Ross County and our region. Making and keeping people healthy is why we are here, and it is what we love to do. Thank you for supporting our mission and for being a part of Adena’s rich history. I hope that you are as proud to have Adena in this community as I am.

Adena Physicians & Staff 5/19/15

Adena Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Brian S. Cohen taught his technique for the reverse total shoulder arthroplasty procedure to more than 500 peers, live via simulcast from a surgical suite inside Chillicothe’s Adena Regional Medical Center, Monday afternoon. The other physicians were attending a conference in Las Vegas, NV, titled Current Concepts in Joint Replacement (CCJR). Dr. Cohen was selected as a member of the CCJR faculty, and often teaches his surgical methods to other physicians. The course was titled, “Live in Las Vegas: Shoulder Reconstruction from the Adena Bone & Joint Center.”

“We usually have three or four surgeons a month visiting our operating room here at Adena,” said Dr. Cohen. “When asked to present to CCJR we had been requested to go to another location to do this operation; and I, along with Arthrex, said we had no problem doing the operation as part of the program, but we wanted to do it from Adena.”

Using two cameras and a video encoder, fed through the Internet, Dr. Cohen explained each step of the surgical process. On the other side of the country, moderator, and Dr. Cohen’s mentor, Dr. Tony Romeo fielded questions from the participants during the more than one-hour procedure.

The patient, 69-year old David Evans of Logan, OH, first injured his shoulder in 1964 when he fell off the wing of a B-58 bomber, while serving in the U.S. Air Force. Evans has had four surgeries on the shoulder, which had deteriorated after several injuries over the years. A recent fall forced his decision to finally have the shoulder replaced.

“I couldn’t raise it, I couldn’t move it, I couldn’t do anything with it really,” Evans said. He’s hopeful the surgery will restore full use of his shoulder and enhance his quality of life. “I hope I’ll be able to use it like I used to. I work in the woods a lot. That’s my enjoyment,” he said. The surgery went well, as expected.

Dr. Cohen made headlines in June 2013, when he became the first surgeon in the U.S. to perform a total reverse shoulder implant using the Arthrex Reverse Universe device. Dr. Cohen has performed more than 1,000 reverse shoulder procedures and over 350 with the Arthrex device.

Community News 5/15/15

Adena President and CEO Mark Shuter has spent much of National Hospital Week delivering gift cards, valued at more than $11,000, to area schools and community organizations. The donations were collected by a number of departments within the Health System and distributed as way to thank the community for its support of Adena Health System over the past 120 years.

“National Hospital Week was created more than 50 years ago, as a reminder that hospitals are foundations of the communities that built them and support them,” said Shuter. “The caregivers at Adena wanted to give back to those groups and organizations in our communities that share our vision of caring for others. The recipients do this through healthcare, education or providing people with what they need to live life to the fullest.”

Today, Shuter visited two Chillicothe area schools, Tiffin Elementary and Mt. Logan Elementary, presenting each with $2,000 in gift cards collected by Adena departments for the purchase of items to aid in the wellbeing and education of local students. Other organizations receiving gift cards collected from Adena departments, and distributed this week in honor of National Hospital Week include: Big Brothers/Big Sisters $995; Child Protection Center $2,900; Hope Clinic $2,900; and March of Dimes $925.

Community News 5/13/15

Adena Health System is looking for outgoing, dependable and friendly people interested in volunteering at Adena Medical Center in Chillicothe.

While we are always looking for volunteers in a variety of roles, we are currently in need of help in the gift shop and with patient transport.

Patient discharge volunteers help transport patients from their room to their vehicle when they are discharged from the hospital. Volunteers must be able to push an adult in a wheelchair. The service hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m. – Noon or Noon- 4 p.m.

Adena is also looking for volunteers to work in the Sugarloaf Gift Shop. The gift shop is open from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and there are three daily shifts. The gift shop is open Noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with two shifts per day.

Proceeds from the gift shop are donated back to the Adena Health Foundation for specific projects or services that benefit the patients of Adena Health System.

All volunteers must be at least 14 years old and willing to volunteer at least four hours a month.

Services & Specialties 5/01/15

Adena Health System leaders and staff today officially opened the new Adena Wellness Center West, located at 2077 Western Ave., Chillicothe. The former Cinema 6 is now home to part of Adena’s Rehabilitation Services Department and Adena Home Care and Hospice. The services were relocated from other locations in Chillicothe after patients were surveyed, and many indicated they wanted more health care options closer to their homes.

“It’s all about meeting the needs of our patients and our communities,” said Adena President and CEO Mark Shuter. “A survey of our Rehab patients showed 60 percent of them lived closer to the west side. That need for convenient access to health-related services for our patients is what drives the majority of the decisions we make when it comes to where we offer care.”

Sixty-percent of Adena’s Rehab team made the move to the new Wellness Center West location. The remaining 40 percent stayed at Adena’s Shawnee Lane location, giving patients more options as to where they go for treatment.

The 17,500 square-foot Wellness Center West building has undergone a major transformation; going from a six-theater facility to clinical space that now houses a gymnasium for patient rehabilitation, exam rooms, offices, and a storefront for home health equipment. To fill the sloped floors in the theater spaces, owner Kevin Winegardner says it took 3,000 tons of fill and 500 tons of concrete to create level, usable workspace.

Other challenges faced in renovating the former theater included excessive ceiling height, which would have made for extra volume and cost when heating and cooling. With the exception of the gymnasium and some storage areas, ceilings were dropped and insulated to nine feet.

Adena Physicians & Staff 4/23/15

For the second consecutive year, Adena Health System has been named a Gallup Great Workplace. The Health System was notified that it is one of just 40 global organizations to be awarded the 2015 Gallup Great Workplace Award.

“To receive the Gallup Great Workplace Award for the second consecutive year shows that we are doing many things right,” said Gail Games, Adena’s Chief Learning Officer. “It’s a proven fact that engaged caregivers offer our patients a more rewarding experience and contribute to better outcomes. An engaged workforce is such an important part of everything we do at Adena.”

The Gallup organization recognizes its winners as having “the most engaged workforces in the world.” According to Gallup, the recipients average nine engaged employees for every one actively disengaged employee, which is more than five times the rate in the U.S., and more than 16 times the rate for workforces globally.

The Gallup Great Workplace Award was created to recognize organizations for their ability to create an engaged workplace across teams, departments and locations. To be eligible for the award, an organization must:

Administer an employee engagement survey to at least 1,000 employees with a response rate of 80 percent or higher;

Receive a qualifying score on Gallup's Q12 employee engagement assessment for at least 50 percent of eligible workgroups; and

Demonstrate clear links between engagement and business outcomes.

Organizations that meet the criteria are invited to apply for the award and submit detailed evidence of their commitment to and advancement of employee engagement. All submissions are reviewed and scored by a panel of Gallup judges.

In addition, Director of Rehabilitation and Radiology Karen Jenkins has been selected among the Top 10 finalists for Gallup’s Manager of the Year Award. Jenkins has been with Adena for 12 years, and continually leads highly engaged teams of caregivers with her positive energy and strong leadership, both cornerstones of engagement.

Jenkins and other Adena representatives will be present for the Gallup Annual Spring Summit, to be held on June 2-4 in Omaha, Nebraska. There, the winner of Manager of the Year will be announced and the 2015 Gallup Workplace Awards will be presented.

Community News 4/20/15

Community and business leaders can access the knowledge and experience of world-renowned leaders by attending Leadercast® at Adena Health System’s Paccar Medical Education Center on Friday, May 8, 2015 from 9:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

The Leadercast event is broadcast LIVE from Atlanta, GA to hundreds of sites around the world, including Chillicothe. This year’s speaker lineup includes:

Last year, over 130,000 leaders from 35 countries attended Leadercast. Now, in its 16th year, this full day, experiential conference is on track to reach its largest audience to date.

“The role of a leader is to establish vision, develop culture, and work unceasingly to meet goals—even in the face of resistance and difficulty. Leadership is more than a position or a title—a leader is someone who recognizes a problem and is willing to fix it,” said Jordan Purpero, Manager of Organizational Development at Adena Health System. “Using one’s influence for good, communicating effectively, and taking risks are skills that make leaders great. These skills and qualities are not merely for CEOs of top organizations; leaders in our communities, local businesses, schools, and families need them as well. Leadercast is an event aimed at developing all leaders. Adena Health System is proud to offer this premier leadership development opportunity in a local setting—something that doesn’t happen often in Southern Ohio.”

Leadercast exists to positively change the way the world thinks about leadership. This year’s theme—The Brave Ones — challenges leaders to lead with a sense of Bravery, possessing a posture of unrelenting boldness. Bring your friends or team members to experience Leadercast and discover what it means to be a leader worth following.

For more information about Leadercast, visit www.leadercast.com. To purchase tickets, priced at $99 for individuals or $595 per table (seats 7), visit http://bit.ly/2015lead. Lunch is included.

Services & Specialties 4/15/15

As part of Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week, the Adena Cancer Center will sponsor free oral cancer screenings on Saturday, April 18, 2015 from 9 a.m. to Noon. The screenings will be held at Stonecreek Dental Care, located at 1849 N. Bridge Street, Chillicothe. No appointment is necessary.

According to the Ohio Department of Health’s (ODH) report, titled, “Cancer in Ohio 2014,” the incident rate of oral cavity and pharynx (throat) cancer in Ross County is higher than state and national averages.

According to ODH, between 2006 and 2010, 67 percent of oral cavity and pharynx cancers were not diagnosed until the patient was in the later stages of the disease.

“The public is aware of the importance of many other kinds of cancer screenings,” said Adena Cancer Center Medical Director Dr. Jeffery VanDeusen. “However, there is limited awareness about oral and throat cancers. With screening programs like this, we want to raise awareness and stress the importance of discovery in the early stages. With regular screenings, we want to catch these cancers sooner so patients can experience better outcomes.”

The oral screening takes less than 15 minutes to complete, and is similar to a dental appointment – without the cleaning and x-rays. Participants will be asked a to provide a brief medical history of any oral or neck lesions, pain or bleeding, change in function, hoarseness, or other health behaviors.

If the physician finds any areas of concern participants will be referred to a medical doctor for further evaluation and testing. For more information about Adena Cancer Center’s free Oral Cancer Screening program, call (740) 542-3030.

Adena Physicians & Staff 4/09/15

Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Brian S. Cohen of Adena Bone & Joint has been selected as a member of the faculty for the upcoming Current Concepts in Joint Replacement (CCJR) Spring meeting, to be held May 17 – 20 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

However, Dr. Cohen won’t be traveling to Las Vegas to educate the more than 1,000 of his colleagues who will be gathered there. On Monday, May 18, Dr. Cohen will teach his technique as he performs a reverse shoulder arthroplasty procedure live from a surgical suite inside Chillicothe’s Adena Regional Medical Center.

Well known and respected by his colleagues, Dr. Cohen often teaches his surgical methods to other physicians. He was selected by the national group to demonstrate his reverse shoulder technique. The course is titled, “Live in Las Vegas: Shoulder Reconstruction from the Adena Bone & Joint Center.”

Dr. Cohen made headlines in June 2013, when he became the first surgeon in the U.S. to perform a total reverse shoulder implant using the Arthrex Reverse Universe device.

Since that time, many orthopedic surgeons have followed in his footsteps. “Total reverse shoulder is the fastest growing type of orthopedic surgery,” said Dr. Cohen. “We often host surgeons from across the country here at Adena. They come to us to learn more about the techniques we are using, and then they bring that knowledge home to benefit their patients.”

The technology used to transmit the live reverse shoulder surgery to the CCJR conference in Las Vegas will be similar to that used for Dr. Cohen’s June 2013 surgery, which was presented in a live, international simulcast to Germany and sites across the United States.